They're made to look bad by how easy it is to apply. If you make a website offering people money if they fill out a form, a lot of people will fill it out. But the odds for a good team are not as bad as they might seem. At least a third of the applications are egregiously broken: 13 year old founders, people who want to "telecommute" from India, people who want us to fund their plumbing supply store, etc...
Thanks for that clarification - the odds are getting a bit better :) . I'm curious: how many teams were interviewed in person to arrive at the final 20?
People might ask you first if its ok to "telecommute" from India, before applying.
I was not aware "asking" that may put them into "egregiously broken" category :)
I'm still not aware of that. Ask away. This is a far more convenient place to ask stupid questions than, say, Startup School. (That's what I did. At the first startup school, I asked almost every founder I could get my hands on: "So, what would you do if you didn't have a co-founder?").
If they get your application, and it says "I am from India and can't leave", then by their own rules that's broken, but there's no penalty for asking stupid questions.
How you react, as you come to realize that the question you are asking is a stupid one, probably says something relevant about a startup founder.
Asking to telecommute is not the problem. Applying to YC and stating that you will not move to the YC location and just telecommute from India would be the problem. You can ask if you can telecommute, but the answer will be "no" if it's the whole team that will be telecommuting.
